GEOGRAPHIC LITERATURE 475 



gradual reclamation of the vast tracts of desert land. In other 

 words, a great work has been begun and is nearing completion 

 in what Mr Newell has aptly termed "The Annexation of the 

 West." Mr Newell is the author of "Agriculture by Irrigation," 

 " Hydrography of the United States," " The Public Lands of the 

 United States," etc. 



As a successor to Mr Newell, the Society has been fortunate 

 in securing the acceptance of the secretaryship by Mr Joseph 

 Stanley-Brown. Mr Stanley-Brown needs no introduction to 

 geographers. His long connection with the U. S. Geological Sur- 

 vey and with the Geological Society of America (of whose publi- 

 cations and proceedings he is the editor) have made him per- 

 sonally acquainted with the many geographers and diverse 

 geographic interests of the country. 



G. H. G. 



GEOGRAPHIC LITERATURE 



Mexico and the United States: A Study of Subjects Affecting Their Political, 

 Commercial, and Social Relations, Made with a View to Their Promo- 

 tion. By Matias Romero. Large 8vo, pp. xxxv + 759. New York : 

 G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1898. 

 This is an exceedingly full handbook of Mexico, prepared by the man 

 of all men most competent to do so, the late minister to the United States. 

 It contains accounts of the topography, climate, mining, fauna and flora, 

 peoples and their social condition, industries and trade, government and 

 laws. Chapters are devoted to the Mexican free zone and to the work- 

 ings of the silver standard in Mexico. The work is invaluable as a ref- 

 erence book concerning our sister republic. 



H. G. 



Alaska: //•■>■ History and Resources, Gold-fields, Routes, and Scenery. By 

 Miner Bruce. 8vo, pp. 237, with 53 illustrations and maps. Second 

 edition, revised and enlarged. New York : G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1899. 

 Tins is a popular compendium of information upon Alaska, written in 

 a rather optimistic tone. It includes chapters upon history, topography, 

 climate, agriculture, minerals and timber, fisheries, and other resources; 

 the Eskimo and Indians; the work of the missionaries; the routes to 

 the interior ; the gold-fields, and closes with a chapter of suggestions to 

 prospectors ami a statement of the boundary dispute. The matter of the 

 book is, for the most part, accurate, although in a region in which his- 

 tory is being made so rapidly it is extremely difficult to keep theprinted 

 page abreasl of the fact. We might be disposed to take exception to the 

 lather roseate view which the author appears to have regarding this pos- 

 session of ours, for, so far as can he seen, Alaska has little future after 

 we have reaped the harvest which Nature has produced, after we have 

 collected its furs, its fish, its gold, and its timber. 



H. G. 



